The Epidemic of Caffeine

Over these past few years, the consumption of caffeine by young adults has been hitting its highest. Millions of teens all over the world are depending more and more on caffeine to keep them focused or awake because they are trying to replace their lack of sleep. Little do these kids know, caffeine is highly addictive and the withdrawals that those who consume caffeine daily can suffer from are pretty scary. Ripon High School sophomore Laila Irigoyen says, “I drink coffee pretty much everyday. I get pretty tired sometimes without it.”.

As these teens let their bodies adapt to having that replacement of energy everyday, they can become very weak or tired without it. As the body becomes dependent on caffeine, eliminating it  from a diet can cause withdrawal symptoms that typically occur 12-14 hours after stopping caffeine intake.

The first symptom is typically a headache. Most of the time the headache is not that severe but can eventually become very painful the longer the consumer goes without caffeine. The second and third symptoms coming together as fatigue and anxiety. Having a strong sluggish feeling while also feeling like your head is spinning and having cold sweats can be a very scary combination that nobody wants to experience. Ripon High School sophomore Abe Alsaidi uses C4 (a preworkout containing caffeine) before his races and claims it helps him “stay focused and energized”.

This leading to another symptom which is difficulty concentrating. Caffeine functions as a central nervous system stimulant, meaning it affects neural activity in the brain and increases alertness while reducing fatigue, which explains why it can play such a big role in concentration.

“If I don’t have a coffee or a chai tea latte in the morning, I can be kinda grouchy.” Irigoyen also stated

Irritability has also been proven to be a symptom of caffeine withdrawal. In a study in 94 adults that depended on caffeine, about 89% of participants claimed that although  they desired to cut back on caffeine, they had been unsuccessful in their efforts due to withdrawal symptoms including irritability and anger. “I guess you can say I do depend on caffeine.” Irigoyen said.